Whumptober 2020 Day 28: Such Wow. Many Normal. Very Oops—Accident/Hunting Season/Mugged
Word Count: 994
Author: Katie/Ally (aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl)
Rating: T
Characters: Olivier Mira Armstrong, Alex Louis Armstrong, Armstrong Flower Lady
Summary: Little Alex and Little Olivier have an accident. Olivier is hurt, and Alex is distraught.
Notes: What do you mean I'd use this as an excuse to explore some headcanons I have for the Armstrongs? No, not me, never. What you need to know: Olivier is the weakest of her siblings, just better skilled; her childhood nickname is "Ivvy" (Short I as in igloo, and the name of the letter V) because Olivier is hard to pronounce for her siblings; The flower lady that passed a message to Mustang is actually their great aunt.
Childhood Accident
Young Alex Armstrong looked at his eldest sister, horrified. The five-year-old hadn't meant it! He hadn't! He hadn't meant to hurt her! They had just been playing! But he hadn't realized how strong he was, hadn't realized that he was stronger than his oldest sister, and so he had put too much strength into their wrestling match.
He had pulled back immediately when he heard Olivier cry out in pain. It wasn't a sound that he heard often, and when he did, it usually meant that his sister was really hurt. He looked over at his ten-year-old sister, from where she had backed away from him before sinking to the ground. He had put distance between them as well, scared. She was clutching her arm to her, there were tears in her eyes, and she her face looked pale.
That scared Alex. His oldest sister was tough and strong. She didn't yell in pain unless she was really, really hurt. And she didn't cry unless there was a really good reason. But now she was sitting there, her dress rumpled around her and holding her arm to herself as she tried not to cry and call out in pain. He could hear her whimper as she tried to move, and then stopped.
"M-Mother!" Alex yelled for their mother. "Father!" he got up, turning to go flee, to find help. "Amue! Strongine!" Someone had to be around, right? Even one of the maids! Alex turned a corner in the garden and ran straight into a figure. He was caught and righted by it, and he looked up to see their great-aunt Veronica who was often in the garden among the paths.
"Alex?" she said, her brow crinkling up. "What's wrong?"
"I—I didn't mean to!" he said, on the verge of his own tears. "We were just playing and—And I hurt Olivier! She's hurt, Auntie!"
She gave him a squeeze, although her face was serious. A maid appeared, and then, at the older woman's nod hurried off. "Show me where, Alex," she told him.
Alex lead her back to where Olivier was still sitting on the ground, curled over her arm, her face white in pain and letting out little whimpers. Aunt Veronica left Alex there and hurried over to Olivier, talking quietly with her. Alex couldn't hear what they said, but he could hear the pain in Olivier's voice. He shifted from foot to foot, anxious about it. Footsteps sounded behind him, and he turned to see Mother and Father running down the path, rushing over to Olivier. He had to move to be able to see Olivier with three adults around her, and fear shot through him when he heard her cry out and saw her start crying the moment Father tried to move her arm. Mother and Father were talking quickly and Alex her them say things about hospitals and surgeries and Olivier was asking about her fencing lesson and crying now about how she couldn't go. Father picked her up carefully, and he and Mother rushed off, Mother giving Alex's head a pat as she passed him.
Aunt Veronica came up beside him. "Auntie, is 'livier going to be okay?" he asked her tearfully.
"Your mother and father are going to take her to the doctor to see. But it does look like a bad break," the aunt said, although her voice was gentle.
Alex teared up. "That was her sword arm, Auntie! Big Sister loves her sword lessons! What if she can't fight anymore? What if I hurt her that badly? I didn't mean to, Auntie! We were just wrestling!"
He was crying now, bawling, and his aunt knelt down and reached out to pull him into her. "We all know that you were just playing, Alex. You wouldn't hurt your sister on purpose. But Alex, you need to understand something."
He pulled back a little bit, scrubbing at his eyes, and waited, wondering what his aunt was going to say to him.
"Your sister isn't as strong as you."
Alex stared at his aunt, shocked. "Olivier is strong!" he said. "She's so good! She beats all of us most of the time!"
"Yes, she beats you, but she isn't as strong as you and your other sisters," Aunt Veronica said. "Have you ever noticed how she doesn't usually fight head on with you? She doesn't do contests of strength? She knows other ways to win. She knows how to use training, leverage, and tricks to win instead of just strength. She is still very strong, but she's not as strong as you or your sisters. She's just better skilled."
Alex pondered this as he scrubbed at his eyes. He had never thought about it before. But for years Olivier hadn't tried to just beat him. She usually did other things, like sidestep, or trip him, or use something. She didn't just fight with him.
Still, that didn't answer all of his questions. "What if I hurt her so bad, she can't use her sword anymore?"
Aunt Veronica smiled down at him. "I don't think you did. But if you did, do you think Olivier would just give up? She'd probably learn to use her other arm."
"Yeah," Alex said, considering that. That sounded like something Olivier would do. But he was still upset that he had hurt her. He looked back up. "Auntie—I want to show Ivvy I'm sorry. Will you help me?"
She smiled down at him. "Of course, I will, Alex. And I'm sure your sister will appreciate it."
Alex hoped so. He was still sniffing as his aunt led him up the path, Amue and Strongine popping out of the bushes to join them, upset by what they had seen as well. They slowly made their way back towards the house, Alex holding tightly to his Aunt's words that Olivier would be okay, and promising to himself to never hurt her again like that!